This Friday is World Refugee Day and sadly, for the second year in a row, the number of refugees worldwide has increased. Much of the increase, according to the United Nations agencies that work with displaced people, is due to wars begun by the United States in Iraq.
Five million Iraqis have fled their homes and more than two million have left the country seeking safety. The U.S. policy on Iraq has created a humanitarian catastrophe.
It is time for a new course in Iraq, starting with announcing the complete withdrawal of U.S. forces and bases from Iraq. Military solutions have not worked and will not work to solve a humanitarian crisis. Instead, our government should reinvigorate diplomatic and reconstruction efforts to ensure that funding for humanitarian relief, reconciliation, and an Iraqi-led reconstruction will begin to fulfill the needs and hopes of Iraqis.
With that course correction, the United States could play a positive constructive role in the Middle East and help the lives of millions of people around the world.
Robert Seltzer